Earnings and employment by occupation, race, ethnicity, and sex, 2010

September 14, 2011

In 2010, median usual weekly earnings of Asian men ($1,408) and White men ($1,273) working full time in management, professional, and related occupations (the highest paying major occupation group) were well above the earnings of Hispanic men ($1,002) and Black men ($957) in the same occupation group.

Employed Asian women were more likely than other women to work in management, professional, and related jobs—46 percent of Asian women, compared with 42 percent of White women, 34 percent of Black women, and 24 percent of Hispanic women in 2010.

Among employed women, 65 percent of Hispanics were in two job groups—service occupations and sales and office occupations—compared with about 59 percent of Blacks, 53 percent of Whites, and 47 percent of Asians in the same job groups.

Among employed men, nearly half (48 percent) of Asians worked in management, professional, and related occupations in 2010, compared with 35 percent of Whites, 24 percent of Blacks, and 15 percent of Hispanics.

Employed Black and Hispanic men were more likely than other men to work in production, transportation, and material moving occupations. Nearly one-half of employed Hispanic men were in two job groups: natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations; and production, transportation, and material moving occupations.